


The strongest connection that exists.

by Amandjnx



Series: CarolNat One Shots [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22642414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amandjnx/pseuds/Amandjnx
Relationships: Carol Danvers & Natasha Romanov, Carol Danvers & Steve Rogers, Carol Danvers/Natasha Romanov
Series: CarolNat One Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669012
Comments: 4
Kudos: 61





	The strongest connection that exists.

"Give me the goddamn gauntlet!"

"Carol, it won't work, the hooded figure said it." Clint said, trying to calm the blonde woman, his hand reaching her shoulder.

"I don't give a fuck what this person said, I can't lose two of my friends the same day and I can't revive Tony." Carol shouted, anger growing bigger as she pushed him away, "Don't touch me!"

"You can revive Nat either." Steve walked into the conversation, knowing Clint wasn't able to handle Carol's fury.

"No, that's what you decided was impossible but I'm sure I can trick those stones."

"Carol, come on, if it was possible to trick the stones, they wouldn't be the most powerful things in the universe."

"Well, I'm the strongest being in the universe so I wanna take a shot." she was too proud to let go, she decided to save Nat, she was going to do it, "And what's the worst that could happen? It doesn't work? At least I can try." she added with a softer and quieter tone, doing her best to convince Steve.

"You could die, it killed Tony, it could kill you as well." The other Captain replied firmly.

"Oh, come on Steve, I'm half Kree, I can take it."

"You're also half human."

"I can't believe you're holding me back from doing this, don't you want to get her back?"

"I do but I don't think that's possible." Steve admitted, feeling tears threatening to fall off of his eyes, the man missed his friend.

"And I think it is, so, please, let me try." Steve looked down at the ground as he thought, scratching his skull. The blonde was willing to take the risk to use the stone to bring Natasha back, she was aware of the possibilities and none of the Avengers were strong enough to fight her, especially when she was in this state of rage.

"I'm gonna see if they are done back there, but it might take time." By _done_ he meant if they had extracted Tony's body from his Iron Man suit so Carol could take the nano gauntlet.

"I can wait, I just want to be sure you'll give it to me when it will be usable."

"I will, I promise."

"Thanks Steve." Carol patted the other Captain's shoulder and left the tent.

Clint, who watched the whole exchange between the captains stepped closer to Steve and stated, "She's going to die and you'll lose three of your friends today."

"Danvers, can you come down here?" The flying Captain heard in the communication device in her ear.

"I'm on my way." She landed a few meters away from him and smiled at the sight of the nano gauntlet he was holding under his arm.

"Pepper didn't say it, but I know she would be happy to get Nat back."

"Who wouldn't."

He chuckled, handing the gauntlet to Carol. She was about to put it on when he stopped her, grabbing her wrist, "Wait! You know what to do, how it works?"

"Think as hard as possible about what I want, get Natasha back, and snap, a child could do it."

"I wouldn't let a kid do that."

"Me neither, but you got my point."

"Yeah," he glanced down, realising the moment had arrived, he was probably going to lose another friend and member of his team, "Can I get a hug, you know, just in case."

"You're getting soft, Rogers." she teased but stretched her arms and step forward. The male Captain walked into the embrace, whispering some good luck words in her ears.

As they pulled out, Carol took a step back and turned into her full binary form, her whole body glowing with golden and light blue rays.

_Bring Natasha back to life._

She put the gauntlet on her hand and didn't bother to wait for its power to go through her entire body before snapping.

_Bring Natasha back to life._

She felt an unbearable amount of power running through her veins and pain, the biggest pain she had ever felt in her life, and the universe knows she had experienced a lot. She tried her best to stay on her feet but she couldn't and collapsed on the ground.

_Bring Nat-..._

~~~

Her whole body was sore, she had never felt like this before, like each and every bones in her were broken, like all the muscles and organs inside her were bleeding. She wanted it to stop but then she remembered why she was going through all this pain.

_Natasha_.

_Bring Natasha back to life._

_Bring Natasha back to life._

"Carol Danvers." A deep voice said. Carol thought she was hallucinating and kept saying the same sentence in her head.

_Bring Natasha back to life._

"Carol Danvers." The voice said again, but louder this time, as if it was getting closer.

The blonde tried to open her eyes, she wanted to see who was talking to her but the pain made it impossible, even the smallest effort to breathe or move a finger sent a wave pain in her whole body. She was more and more tired, exhausted even, but she fought it, and kept thinking about her unique goal.

_Bring Natasha back to life._

She didn't know if it would work but she had to keep trying, for Natasha and all her friends and family who were mourning her. The sound of the voice grew louder and deeper as it approached her and so did her will to see who, or what was talking to her.

With the last bit of strength she had she managed to open her eyes and they fell on a hooded figure, just like Clint describe, but it was glowing, an orange light shining under the hood and the cloak, preventing Carol to see their face, if they had one. At this moment she realised she was laying in a puddle of hot water and relaxed a little, the temperature of the liquid she was bathed into easing the soreness.

"Carol Danvers." The figure said again, but this time Carol acknowledged its presence, looking right at it.

"Where am I?" She managed to mumble as the pain was fading away.

"You are in between worlds, the living and the death."

"What does it mean? I'm not dead but I'm not alive either."

"The situation is more complicated than Life and Death," the voice clarified, "you are here because I chose to."

"And why is that?" She asked firmly, getting seated on the wet floor.

"You decided to use a power no human can bear to save one single being, it is something not a soul had ever been willing to do before and I want to know why you did it."

"I'm not actually human, I'm half human. And yes I was willing to try to get my friend back, because everything she wanted was to see her family again and she didn't had the chance to."

"Only your human part reacted with the power you used."

Carol raised an eyebrow as she stood up on her feet, "What does it mean?"

"Perhaps you are more human than you thought."

"But what about my powers? This isn't a part of the human me."

"Your power are a gift from one of the most powerful things in the universe, it thought you were worthy of getting those powers and you were only human when you got them."

"Yeah, but- wait! How do you know that?"

"I am, just like the being who gave you your powers, one of the six most powerful things in the universe."

"I- are you, like the incarnation of the Soul Stone."

"I am." the Figure confirmed.

"So you decided to get me there." She scratched her skull, "Can I get back to my life or am I stuck in here?"

"You will go back, but the person you seek to bring back, this is not a certainty."

"Please, she deserves to live, she sacrificed her life to save half of the universe, she sacrificed her dream to see her family again to give the opportunity to billions to achieve that same dream, she's worth it." Carol pleaded, she couldn't go back to Natasha's family without her after the scene she did at the camp.

"Do you think her sacrifice was bigger than yours?" the Soul asked her.

"Mine?"

"You were willing to die if it brings one person back, to give your soul to get another one."

"That's what she did when she jumped, giving her soul for the Soul Stone. And with this she help saving the rest of the universe, so, yes, her sacrifice was bigger than mine."

"If this is what you think then, she can go back to the living world."

"Thank you!"

"But the Soul Stone must be exchanged with another soul, if she goes back the balance of the universe will be at risk."

"And what if I stay?"

"You cannot, you did not give yourself to a loved one in order to save them."

"So we're screwed." Carol cursed in her head, she did it for nothing and couldn't risk to fuck up the universe for Natasha, even if she wanted to, it wouldn't be fair for the rest of the living creature.

After a minute of silent thinking, the incarnation of the Soul Stone spoke up, "I can see one way to get your friend back to the living world and keep the balance of the universe."

"Please, whatever it is, do it." Carol begged.

"It would need a part of you. Would you agree to give a part of your soul to complete the part of hers that will be taken out of the Stone?"

"Of course!" She shook her head and realised what she said, a part of her soul, that might be risky, "Wait, will it change who I am? Or who she is?"

"It will not, but you and your friend will be linked, if you accept to share a part of your soul, you and her will share the strongest connection that exists."

"Fine by me then, take it."

"Good."

The hooded figure started to glow brighter, as if it was doing some magic trick to make Natasha come back.

Carol wondered why she was still there as the Soul stone was doing her things and asked, "So how am I going back now?"

She started to feel the pain in her body coming back and bent down to try to stop it, in vain. She clenched her jaw as hard as she was able to, but the pain kept growing stronger.

"Just like you came."

She felt her legs failing her and she landed hard on her side into the water. She fought to stay conscious but the soreness was impossible to bear, even for Captain Marvel. She tried to focus on her breathing, one inhalation at the time until even breathing was impossible. She took one last deep breath and hold the longer she could, feeling her lungs filling with carbon dioxide. As her brain started malfunctioning because of the lack of oxygen, she heard the figure's last words and gave up, falling into unconsciousness.

"In pain."

~~~

A big orange lightning struck Carol and threw Steve away, the man groaning as he hit the ground. He immediately got back to his feet and rushed, stumbling, to the short haired woman and found her laying on the grass. He called her name and shook her body to wake her but she didn't respond, yet, he could see she was breathing.

"Carol! Shit!" He looked around him to find help but he was alone, everybody had a task to accomplish and were back at the makeshift hospital they made on the ruins of the Avengers compound. He couldn't wait for help, she needed medical assistance so he carried her in his arms, careful at every step he took to prevent her from any unnecessary additional pain.

He realised how far they were from the battlefield after the five minutes mark of walking, "Why does she have to fly away when she is sad." he muttered to himself.

He thought the camp had been deserted when he glimpsed the first tents but then someone appeared, Wanda, _perfect_.

"Hey, Wanda," he shouted, "come and help me please."

The young woman walked fast towards him and gasped at the sight of Carol, unconscious in his arms, "What happened?"

"She tried to get Nat back, using the Stones."

"Is she alive?"

"Yes, but she won't stay any longer if we don't get help."

"Let me carry her." Wanda stated and a red fluid appeared around her hands. She sent it towards Carol and lift her out of Steve's arms, the woman floating in the air. "I can keep her still and get her to the doc faster than you but go there and prepare them to what's coming."

Steve nodded and started running, the fastest he ever did and Wanda followed him from afar, focused to stabilise Carol's body in her magical stretcher.

When she got to the tent, both Bruce and Stephen Strange were there, ready to take care of the woman who saved them in the earlier fight. After some quick scans they realised they could not help her with the stuff they had and sent her to the nearest hospital.

~~~

"You're up early, Romanoff!" said a joyful Carol, who just arrived in the compound from space to take a day off.

"Or late, depends on the way you live." Natasha responded with a neutral tone, yet something on her face made it clear she was not okay.

"And what's yours?"

"Neither, I need to sleep but if go to sleep I have nightmares so I don't and when I stay awake I think too much so it ends up like a living nightmare."

"Wow.." Carol lost her joy instantly, "sounds like a hard way to live."

"Yeah."

Natasha sat on the kitchen island with a glass of water in her hand, looking down at it, as if it was going to give her a way to bring the dusted back, her ultimate goal. Carol hated seeing her friend in such an awful state of mind, she was in a spiral of self destruction since the Snap happened and this particular period of the year was the worst. Carol had to help her, but how? It wasn't like the naturally-red-haired woman was an open book, understanding what was going on in her head was nearly impossible.

The blonde stepped closer, trying to get her attention and also analysing her behaviour, she needed to know if Natasha was about to cry or if she was simply daydreaming.

She stopped her pace in front of her and waited for Natasha to match her gaze. When she did, Carol could see how frustrated she was, with all kind of frustration. She couldn't help her for the work related one, they tried in vain for almost five years to get the Infinity Stones back, something that was apparently not doable, so now they were just doing damage control, on earth or in space.

The other frustration on the other hand..

Carol could feel the tension in Natasha's shoulder as she got closer, the muscles of her face straightening, her jaw clenched to keep her mask in place. One of Carol's hand fell on Natasha's thigh which caused to other woman to glance down to see what was happening. Their eyes met again but this time Carol was smiling softly, trying to hold her laughter as she saw how lost Natasha was. With her other hand, she reached a strand of the half-blonde-half-red hair and slipped it behind her ear, leaning closer, her face now a few inches away from Natasha's. When their foreheads met, Natasha's breathing hitched and Carol stopped her action, giving the redhead some time to decide if she wanted what Carol was offering or not.

"Carol," she breathed, "I don't know if I can do this."

"You'll have nothing to do," the blonde assured, "you need it and I can give it to you, let me do this."

Natasha put her glass of water to the side before closing her eyes as she thought about her options. Carol was right, she needed it but she didn't feel like she deserved to get some relief when she failed at her job, she wanted to be punished and that was a good way to do so.

"Nat, it's okay, the world is not going to end while you take some time for yourself." Carol whispered in her ear as the redhead had rested her forehead on her shoulder. She knew what was going on in Nat's head, she thought the same for a long time before accepting that they had lost and there was nothing they could do to change it.

"And it's okay if you don't want to."

Those words made Natasha choose. She sat up properly, looking at Carol with trust and tilted her head, getting her hair away from her neck so the blonde had an access. Carol smirked at the sight of her friend completely giving in to her and leaned down, brushing the pale skin a first time with her lips, making Natasha's body trembling. Carol took her time, savouring the scent of her perfume and the feeling of the soft skin relaxing under her touch.

Natasha's hand reached the back of Carol's neck, pulling her gently closer as the blonde left a trail of kisses on her neck and collarbone. She clenched her hand into a fist, grasping the long blonde hair as she did, the desire sending waves of arousal in her whole body.

The spy was doing her best to hold the sounds of pleasure that wanted to escape her mouth, biting hard her lower lip to hide how good it felt to be the centre of Carol's attention, but her heavy breathing was giving it away. She didn't manage to hold a moan when she felt Carol sucking her skin to leave a red mark.

The pressure between her thighs was growing bigger and she wished the hand that was resting on it could roam a little bit higher and slide under her pants and knickers. She wanted more closeness, to feel the blonde all over her body and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, her head pressed in Carol's neck, her moans muffled by the warm skin.

When Carol was done with Natasha's neck she pulled out of her strong grip, making the redhead whine at the lack of contact. Carol couldn't deny she liked seeing Natasha so needy and let out a mocking giggle.

"Maybe we should g-"

"Bedroom, yeah."

Carol didn't think twice before pulling Natasha towards her and lifted her from the island, the other woman automatically wrapping her legs around her hips and her arms around her neck. The Captain had some difficulties to see where she was going as her head was tucked in the red head's neck and covered by her hair. Hopefully she had learnt her whereabouts in the compound and found Natasha's bedroom easily.

When they got inside, Carol walked in direction of the bed and laid Nat down before straddling her. She leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead and another one on her cheek. She was about to kiss her lips when Natasha opened her eyes and smiled.  
  
"You sure you want this?" Carol asked, in case Natasha had changed her mind, she wanted to have her consent before doing anything more. The woman under her nodded so she gave in and captured her lips, smiling as she did.  
  
That night, Carol gave Natasha exactly what she wanted when she wanted it. She was usually more of a teasing kind of lover but she didn't do it with the redhead, knowing it wasn't the moment to act like that. Natasha wasn't hard to please but she needed it a lot and Carol wondered if the woman had even touched herself during the last five years considering how needy, tense and sensitive she was. Even when she thought the spy had had enough (four orgasms for someone as tired as Natasha was a lot to take in) the other woman still asked for more and Carol was happy to oblige. After that last one, and a bit of cuddles, Natasha fell asleep, her naked body resting on Carol's almost fully clothed one.

~~~

"Where is she?"  
  
"There," Steve pointed at the glass in front of him which was separating the corridor from the room Carol was in, "you shouldn't be here, you need to rest."  
  
"I'll rest later, how is she?"  
  
"Critical but stable. Her vitals haven't changed for the last two hours, which is apparently a good news."  
  
"Can I get in there?" Steve made a face he knew his interlocutor would understand meant no.  
  
"Come on, Steve, I have to be with her when she wakes up."  
  
"I'll go ask the doc," he said, taking a few steps back, "but don't go in there without permission!" he warned.  
  
"I won't, I swear."

~~~

"So you had sex with her?" Steve asked, Natasha's confession surprised him more than he could have imagined.  
  
"Yes. I needed someone's affection and attention, she offered hers so I took it, that's it."  
  
"Oh God, I am proud of you, Natasha." Tony got out of his silence after he processed Natasha's word, "You know you are the only one Carol wanted to have sex with in the team."  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
"She told me three years ago, remembered back in 2020 during Christmas?" Natasha nodded, "We were talking, you, Pep, Carol and myself and Morgan started crying so you went with Pepper and on your way up there I saw Carol checking you up, she wasn't even trying to be subtle, so I looked at her with my faux-in-shock face, you know that face?"  
  
"Yes I know."  
  
"And she asked me if you would be interested in her."  
  
"Interested how?" Natasha wondered, intrigued.  
  
"She asked if you were straight."  
  
"Oh! And what did you say?"  
  
"What does you intergalactic gaydar says?"  
  
"Oh god.." The redhead took her face in her hands, he really is stupid sometimes, she thought.  
  
"What? I wasn't going to out you."  
  
"Yet you basically did."  
  
"Oh, come on, it's Carol, not a weirdo, it's not like I was giving infos to a stalker."  
  
"Yeah, anyway, what did she said then?" she asked out of curiosity, not that she was interested in Carol.  
  
"Uh, something about you being good looking if I remember correctly. But she also said you were only friends so, I don't think there was feelings involved, just sex."  
  
"Well, that's a good news because it's the same for me, she is a really good friend but that's it."

~~~

_"She's gonna make it, she's stable and healing fast. Now it's more a matter of_ when _she wakes up than_ if _."_

_"Thanks doc."_

_"One more thing. You should get some rest, what you came back from isn't nothing, you need to take care of yourself."_

_"I'll do that when she wakes up, I have to be here for her."_

_"That's what your friend Steve said you'd tell me. He also talked about a mark on your wrist, want me to take a look?"_

_"It's fine, don't worry about it."_

_"Alright, I'll come back in three hours for a check up."_

_"You're cute when you're asleep, Danvers but I'd really like to see you awake, we have things to discuss."_

_"Still nothing?"_

_"Nope, she's sleeping like a baby."_

_"And what about that mark?"_

_"I guess we'll have to wait till she wakes up to find out."_

_"Give her some time, it haven't been a day."_

_"I know, Steve, it's just.. I feel so weird since I came back, I need to get answers."_

_"You will, don't worry."_

_"When are the funeral planned?"_

_"On Monday, it lets you three days to get her to wake up."_

_"As if I could do something about it."_

_"I'm sure if you talked about the new feelings you have it-"_

_"Shut it!... I will, when she'll be conscious."_

Exhaustion, that's the first thing that came to her mind. She had probably slept for days, weeks perhaps but she was still at the edge of passing out.

She felt like her head was going to explode, like someone was playing with a hammer and nails in her brain. Her head wasn't the worst, her right side was cold, like arctic-desert cold and the shivers that it sent through her body made it all aching, awakening every single wound it was riddled with.

There was two spots of her body that felt less sore, as if it had been ignored by the power of the Infinity Stones. First, her left hand, it was warm and a light pressure made it feel nice, comforting somehow. The other warm part was the inside of her right wrist, which was strange because her rest of her right side was frozen except for this particular area.

A few minutes passed and she didn't move, she didn't even try to, knowing it would end up in an unspeakable pain.

Another couple of minutes later she realised she didn't know how she arrived there nor where she was at all. She could open her eyes to find out but even that effort seemed superhuman.

All of a sudden she felt the soft pressure on her hand tightening and responded mindlessly by griping harder herself. There she realised in which position she was, laying on her left side with her right arm pressed still against her stomach. She couldn't move the limb (not that she would try to), it was wrapped in bandages from her elbow to her shoulder, just like the inside of her hand but her wrist was free from any medical care. Still grasping hard whatever was in her hand she heard something (someone?) moving and tried her hardest to opened her eyes.

"Carol?"

She groaned, it was almost imperceptible.

"Hey there," the voice said softly, "how are you feeling?"

She groaned again, louder this time and the person in the room chuckled in response.

She could recognise this sound anywhere, a sound she thought she would never have the chance to hear any more after what Clint had said, and yet, there it was.

"Nat?" She breathed, her throat so dry it hurt. She wanted to be sure, to see she wasn't dreaming, she needed the confirmation that her doing worked and slightly opened one eye and the other, her blurry sight finding the familiar gorgeous face of the red haired woman she almost died for, casually sitting on a chair beside her bed.

"Hi!" She whispered against the skin of her hand before kissing its back, "You had to be a hero, huh?"

Carol said nothing but smiled, the earlier experience of talking had definitely let an impression on the blonde.

"You want something to drink? You must be thirsty."

Carol nodded and opened her mouth, waiting for the other woman to give her a straw. When she sucked the water up, all the muscles of her neck straightened, making her cried out in pain.

Swallowing was even more painful, her mouth tasted like blood but at least it had humidified her throat, which would help for the talking.

"I thought I lost you." She said, her voice was still raspy but less hurting.

"Apparently you couldn't let me go," Natasha giggled as she cupped Carol's cheek with her free hand, "what happened exactly?"

"I- uh. It's complicated."

"I guessed as much when I saw this," The red head rolled up the sleeve of her jumper, revealing an eight-arms-star-shaped orange mark on her wrist, "I looked at yours but there's nothing."

"It must be here," Carol glanced at her right wrist, "does yours feels like it's burning?"

Natasha nodded before taking a look to the joint, carefully lifting up the bandaged hand to have a better angle. She grinned at the sight of the mark, an hourglass, the same colour as hers.

"I suppose there is something."

Natasha grin grew bigger, "Yeah. So, care to elaborate?"

Carol cleared her throat, it wasn't a short story she was about to tell, it needed stamina.

"I guess Steve told you what I did," Natasha nodded, "so, when I snapped I woke up in the middle of nowhere in some crappy water and something was calling my name." She stopped talking, feeling her throat tightening and pointed to the glass of water that Natasha gave her. After a few sips she spoke again, "I looked and saw an orange human-like form with a hood."

"Funny, there was a hooded person on Vormir."

"Yeah, Clint told me that." she coughed and it felt like her lungs had been minced while someone was stabbing her back with millions of knives. Natasha instinctively reached her head and struck her hand in the short blonde hair, hopelessly trying to soothe the pain. 

"It's okay if you can't tell me now." she whispered softly, her heart aching to see the blonde in so much pain.

"No, I want to."

"Okay."

Carol took a deep breath to recover from the lack of air and cleared her throat, "This person told me I was in between worlds, kinda dead but not really and asked why I did what I did so I explain that I wanted you back because you deserved to see your family again."

"I can't believe you risked your life without hesitation just to save me."

"You're worth it, Natasha." Carol said as she squeezed the redhead's hand, "So the figure happened to be the incarnation of the Soul Stone and it said that bringing you back would put the balance of the universe at stake. In order to keep that balance I gave a part of my soul to the Stone and exchanged it with a part of yours."

"Wait, you really gave your soul for me?"

"Of course I did, I couldn't come back here without you." she confirm, almost disappointed Natasha was doubting her, "Apparently doing this linked us, which might explain the marks." she added and noted a change in Nat's expression.

"Soulmates." Natasha mumbled.

"What?"

"I talked about it with Steve, those are soulmates marks. Usually people are born with them and only the luckiest find their match but I suppose the Soul Stone itself can give marks to anyone."

"You're saying we are meant to be together?" The blonde wasn't a hundred percent sure she understood what Natasha meant but she hoped it had something to do with the fact that she wanted to kiss the redhead. She had never been wanting something that much, even her will to get Natasha back a couple of days ago was not that strong.

"Yes. The soulmates aren't always lovers, Steve knew a guy who had one and his soulmate was his best friend but I don't think that's the case for us."

"Why?"

"Because it wouldn't explain how I feel about you since I came back." Natasha smile faded away as she glanced down to hers and Carol's intertwined fingers. It was something she had never done, confessing her feelings like this and she feared the reaction of the blonde.

"The Soul said we would share the strongest connection that exists, it wasn't talking about soulmates, it was talking about love."

"Love."

They said it at the same time and chuckled as they realised it. Again laughing was not the best thing to do after using a power that strong and Carol's body reminded her of that. She closed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw to try to soothe the pain even though she knew it wouldn't work. Natasha couldn't bear seeing her soulmate in such pain and immediately called for a help.

"You need to rest, we'll talk later, okay?"

Her eyes still closed, Carol nodded slightly, though she wanted so bad to sort out their new relationship, it could wait a bit longer.

"The doc's (Stephen Strange) gonna give you something to sleep, in the meantime I have some exam to pass myself, I'll be back before you know it." Natasha leaned towards Carol and kissed her forehead, the softness and warmth of her lips making the pain fading a bit replaced by satisfaction and delight.

She wasn't sure if it was the medication that was going through her vain or Natasha's kiss that was relaxing her the most but either way she fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

~~~

Pain. The worst she ever felt. Worse than when she hit the ground at the bottom of the cliff, which was kind of ironic, who would have known you'd suffer more after you died. It didn't make sense when you think about it, how can she be suffering when her body was supposed to be dead, and only her soul was what remained of her.

All of a sudden, the pain faded and in a blink of an eye Natasha felt normal, no more wound making her want to tear her skin apart to stop the soreness. Only her left wrist was still painful, like it was burning under her skin. She tilted her head to see what was going on on her arm and gasped, there was an orange mark, surely left by the Soul Stone she thought.

She sat up and realised she wasn't laying where she had fallen, she wasn't at the bottom of that cliff she jumped off of to save her best friend's life. She was still on Vormir though, she could see on her left the mountain she and Clint had to climb before discovering their tragic fate.

She considered going back up there, in case Clint had stayed, to tell him she wasn't dead but the part where she had to climb again stopped her.

It wouldn't make sense for Clint to have stayed, he had the Stone, he must go back to the present to give it to the team and reverse Thanos doing.

The present, _shit_.

Natasha remembered she was back in 2014 and tried to use the bracelet Tony made to go back in time but she couldn't find it. She was in her casual combat suit and had no way to know if she still had the Pym particles on herself without the bracelet.

_Wait._

The suit, she could make it appear without Tony's toy and yet, now, she couldn't. Something was wrong and maybe she wasn't in the period of time she thought she was.

_"We gotta do something, Carol isn't between life and death for nothing, we have to go check on Vormir."_

_"And how do we do that?"_

_"With me." Dr. Strange said with his usual calm tone, stepping out of the house to join Clint and Steve under the porch._

_"Strange, of course, man can you make one of your magic portals to Vormir?"_

_"You have to describe it to me first, if I've never been to the place it's the only way I have to make it there."_

_"Alright!"_

_Clint did as he was asked and gave every details he could possibly remember about Vormir. He didn't describe the mountain and the cliff but the place he appeared after Natasha's sacrifice, he thought she would be there if she had come back to life, it was also easier to describe and, at least, they would be on the orange planet._

_When he was done, Stephen Strange took a few steps back and closed his eyes, focusing on the image he made in his head of the place he must go to. He traced circles in the air and a sparkling form come out of nowhere. Clint almost stumbled down on the ground as he took a step back, in shock at the sight of the landscape in front of him, it was exactly what he described, it was Vormir._

_With a bit of hesitation, Clint and Steve stepped into the portal, looking for a certain redhead._

She couldn't find a way to go back to earth, she had no equipment, the Guardians' ship was gone and, as Nebula said, this planet was unknown to every living creature except the Avengers and Thanos.

For a second she thought the Guardians or Carol could fly there but they had no reason to come and check, she was supposed to be dead in 2014 and, in case she was in 2023 like she thought, what were the chances they would think she was there.

_Carol._

The thought of the blonde woman weirdly made her wanna tear up and she felt like her stomach was turning into a big knot, or was it butterflies? The idea of seeing Carol again sent shivers down her spine and her wrist hurt more than it did for the dozen of minutes she had been awake, she was apprehensive about it but couldn't understand why, the two women were just friends after all.

She had to get out of here, her gut was shouting it to her, she had to go back to earth and find out why she felt that way about Carol.

She stood up and walked a few paces, going back to the top of Vormir. She so was determined, blinded and deafened by her willingness to go back to her family that she didn't hear the first time someone called her name. The second she thought she was daydreaming, remembering Clint's voice but then it was Steve's and it was getting closer, the voices followed by the sounds of fast footsteps in the water.

The third time she decided to look back, what was the worst that could happen, she had hallucinations? When she did, she almost fell on the ground in surprised but a pair of arms were there to prevent her fall this time.

"Natasha, you're alive!" Said a crying Clint, holding her in a tight hug.

She chuckled in disbelief but then Steve appeared and she knew she wasn't dreaming, the only way they would come was by some magic she heard a doctor in west village could do.

She held tight around her best friend's neck, relieved that her loneliness was over. It hadn't been that long but just the thought of staying here alone until she'd died of starvation wasn't something she wanted to experience.

"Nat, you have to come with us, Carol is in a bad shape." Steve stated, speeding Natasha and Clint up out of their embrace.

_Carol._

She needed to get back to her, why? She didn't know, but she had to. "Of course, let's go, I don't wanna see this planet ever again."

~~~

When she woke up later the same day, Natasha wasn't there, probably still doing the said medical exams she needed to pass.

This awakening was less painful than her first one and Carol didn't even think before sitting up on her bed. Apparently somebody took care of her wounds while she was asleep because the majority of the bandages she had a few hours earlier were gone, only one remained on her shoulder.

She called a nurse but nobody came. She thought she was in a hospital until she noticed the curtains on the windows, she had seen those before. She called someone again and Steve arrived in the room the a big and warm smile.

"Steve, I'm glad to see you!"

"So am I, how are you?"

"Way better than this morning, thanks." Her eyes wandered around the room, looking for another familiar face, "Do you happen to know where Natasha is?"

"Yeah, she's outside, I can get her if y-" His eyes widened as Carol stood up from the bed and walked past him, heading to the door, "Carol what are you doing?"

"Gonna go see her."

"You don't even know where we are."

"Tony's house, I've been there, remember? And I know exactly where she went, the pontoon right?"

He chuckled, Natasha always loved to sit there and think and that's exactly what she was doing now, "Yes."

"See, I can be very observant when I want to."

Taking some clothes on her way out, Carol saw Pepper who gave her a thankful smile, having Natasha back was a little consolation prize for losing her husband but it was still something good and she couldn't hide it to the person who brought her friend back.

The rays of sun dazzled her as she stepped outside, being asleep for days didn't help to adapt to changes of brightness. When her hazelnut eyes got used to it, she saw the redhead where she expected her to be, seated at the edge of the pontoon, looking at the horizon, the tip of her toes touching the surface of the water.

She walked discreetly towards her and sat beside her, making her jump in surprise, "Carol, what are you doing here? You should be resting."

"So should you I heard."

"I'm fine."

"So am I."

"You are a huge pain in the ass, you know that."

"Yeah, I've been told." she said, holding her laughter.

Seeing Carol happy and in good shape made it impossible for Natasha to hide her joy, she had worried so much the last couple of days, she needed to see her saviour being herself again.

Carol stared into the emerald gaze, hypnotised by its beauty. She had always found Natasha attractive and especially liked her eyes but now that they were linked she felt like she could stare at her forever and never be fed up of it.

"So.. what about that?" Carol broke the comfortable silence that had fallen between them, showing Natasha the inside of her right wrist.

Natasha didn't reply right away even if she knew what she wanted, she had the time to think about it while Carol was asleep. She glanced down at hers and Carol's mark before looking back into the brown eyes and giggled, "As much as I want to kiss you right now, I think we should take it slowly."

As she said that, Carol took Natasha's hand in hers, intertwining their fingers, making their marked skins touching which sent waves of warmth and arousal in both their bodies. The redhead blushed, she didn't expect the link to be that much powerful, the feelings were overwhelming and she had a hard time thinking straight as her gaze fell onto Carol's lips. She resisted for a few seconds but the attraction was strong, stronger than her and the only thing that stopped her was Carol's forehead meeting hers.

"Yeah, kissing you seems like a better plan than taking it slowly honestly." Carol whispered, gazing at Nat's lips but she looked up right away, knowing she wouldn't resist long if she kept tempting herself.

"You're really not helping." Natasha chuckled and nuzzled Carol's nose.

They went back to a comfortable silence, staring into each other's eyes, the corner of their lips cocked into soft smiles. It felt like nothing else around them mattered, as if the world had disappeared and it was just the two of them, living and enjoying every second of their new close relationship.

One of them eventually broke the eye contact to look at the other's lips and they were fucked. It was both their fault, they gave in at the same time and their lips met.

Oddly, just a few seconds of their lips touching gave them more pleasure than this one time they had sex a month ago.

Carol could hear her heart racing in her ears and felt her cheeks heating up as Natasha's mouth moved in the same rhythm as hers. Her stomach was like a giant firework, bigger than the ones she had seen for the fourth of July, it felt just like they said in the films, something she had never experienced before.

The redhead melted, the warmth of Carol's lips releasing the tension she felt in her whole body since she had entered Carol's room two days ago. She had kissed the blonde before but their link strengthened how it felt, how everything felt around the space fighter and now even the slightest touch was a thousand time better than before. She wanted to do that more often, forever, kissing Carol was her new favourite activity.

It was more than an intimate moment, it was them giving themselves to each other, carelessly showing their vulnerabilities and fears, knowing the person opposite would understand them and be there to fight them.

The kiss got heated quickly but as their tongues brushed, Carol's breathing grew heavier, the woman's lungs had still not completely recovered. When she realised she had to choose between kissing Nat and breathing, Carol pulled away, laying down on the wooden pontoon. Natasha leaned over her, smirking, her hand reaching the blonde's cheek.

"Guess I do need to rest." Carol admitted, panting.

Natasha scoffed, "You are a dumbass," she whispered, her thumb running up and down the blushing skin, "but I couldn't be happier to be stuck with you for the rest of my life."

Carol grinned before pulling Natasha into a shorter chaste kiss and moaned as she felt the other woman's teeth biting her bottom lip.

She pulled away and smirked, "You're just never going to stop, are you?"

Natasha shrugged, "What can I say?" she kissed Carol again but she restrained herself this time, keeping her tongue and teeth where they belonged. When she broke the kiss she saw Carol's grin and couldn't fight the urge to do the same.

"You are my soulmate."


End file.
